A variety of approaches exist for assessing the cleaning efficacy of a cleaning product. Approaches such as the identification and quantification of residual soil on the skin are known. For example, a known quantity of a known substance may be applied to skin, wiped with a cleaning product, and the substance transferred from the skin to the cleaning product quantified. Or, a known quantity of a known substance may be applied to a hard surface, wiped with a cleaning product, and the substance transferred from the skin to the cleaning product quantified. However, these approaches can be difficult to reproduce with consistency. In addition, it may be difficult to isolate and test one variable at a time when a test cannot be replicated with consistency.
In some instances, tests may be performed using a machine or may be performed by a human. While a human tester more closely mimics real cleaning conditions, results may vary from one human tester to another and from one test to another with the same human tester. A machine may be used to test the cleaning efficacy of a cleaning product by mimicking a blotting or wiping motion of a human hand. However, while machines may provide consistency and reproducibility from one test to another, blotting and/or wiping motions by a machine are unable to capture all aspects of a wiping motion of a human hand.
Thus, there remains a need for a reproducible test to evaluate the efficacy of a cleaning product that mimics the wiping motion of a human hand.